Thursday, March 17, 2011

So much is happening with the Hobbs Family, I hardly know where to start. I think I will begin with...WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!!! Ok, I got that out, now I will expound. I have decided that God likes to play chess! We had been looking at a particular place for the past 2 months, but felt it was too small. After a while, however, we decided that we would just have to squeeze. Well, the owner wasn't on the same page at all. She let us know in her very expressive way, that we were too big of a family to fit in that space, even though it was 3 bedrooms. I was disappointed. Little did I know that God was going to use that in a funny way. So several weeks later we hear by word-of-mouth that a 3 bedroom will be opening up at the end of April. A couple days later we were able to contact the people living in the condo and set-up a time to look at the place. We LOVED it...it is more than we expected and a perfect fit for our family. Come to find out, the people are moving into THE place that we wouldn't fit into! CRAZY! Like chess pieces, God is moving them out and us in and we watch it all take place in awe. This has been a clear expression of the verse in Ephesians 3:20 of God doing more than we could ever ask or imagine! I'm so grateful that we listened to the people around us and to the Lord when He continued to tell us to wait this out...something will come and when it does, "you'll just know." Thank you for your prayers!

We have had a great few weeks of ministry as well. Andrew has been enjoying exploring the island-always with 2-4 young adult islanders along! It's been incredible for him to have the opportunity to build relationships, particularly through hiking, paddling, snorkling, etc. The other exciting event was to have Cameron Porter, one of our young adults from Florida, visit for a week. There was definetely never an idle moment for Cam! We actually just dropped him off at the LA airport so he could return to cold Detroit to finish his college semester. Good Times!

I (Shelli) had the wonderful opportunity to share with the women of the island this last Tuesday at the community Bible study. It was a great experience as I was able to share my heart to see women set free as they learn and truly experience God's passionate pursuit of them and interest in their healing and wholeness. It was received well and I was so very encouraged as I was able to see, again, God show-up in such an incredible way. I also shared with them what God has told me is my mission in Avalon..."to BE" (I'll have to explain that in a future blog). And the converstation is continuing...I have received several emails and phone calls from women who want to go farther in learning and exploring what God has to offer in this. It's very exciting and again, I say "thank you" because I know several of you were praying for that morning.

One prayer need that we would bring to your attention is Alex's health. He has been under some serious attack as he's recently endured one sickness after another. Over the past few weeks we have had him to the doctor a couple times and he's been on several different antibiotics. He is still not back to normal and would greatly appreciate your prayers. His heart is to spend time with the boys of the community that have been spending hours (and meals :)) at our place and with our family. It's been so hard for him to have to explain to them that he can't come out and "play" because he has to stay in bed and away from people because of being possibly contagious.

Well, we leave in the morning for our trip to Thailand. Hopefully we will be able to post updates from Andrew's laptop, if he has wireless access. Thank you for praying for our safety and health as well as our ministry to the orphans that we will be working with!

About Me

"Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, REVEL in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."
Philippians 4:4-7 (Message)